Thatcher out-Thatchered!

Faithful to the aspirations and legacy of Michael Collins?

If you are a reader of the English language newspapers you may be forgiven in not knowing that around 10,000 people were assembled during the past few days at the mammoth City West Hotel in the annual celebration of Gaeldom known as The Oireachtas. People travel from the length and breadth of Ireland and indeed from further afield, meeting old friends, enjoying that music, singing, dancing and poems, drama, literature and art that is irrefutably Irish.

Protecting the Taoiseach from the "Gaeilgeoirís"?

The Taoiseach, Mr Enda Kenny TD,  attended, accompanied by a large phalanx of Garda - not all of whom could speak the language of the attendees - to launch that section of the 1916-2016 commemoration which is in the oldest extant written vernacular in Europe, our National Language. This may be found on a website with the strangely incongruous web address of www.ireland.ie.

He agreed to be interviewed on the popular daily Raidío na Gaeltachta programme, Cormac ag a cúig. This is an interesting programme broadcast from Dublin hosted by Cormac Ó hEadhra - if you listen to Drivetime on RTE Radio he sometimes stands in for the usual presenter there.

Now Cormac is nothing if not a thorough and persistent presenter and interviewer. The Taoiseach is not known for giving interviews like this on news programmes and so the listeners were looking forward to hearing his views on the problems and difficulties that are the daily problems of those who wish to live through Irish in their own country.

Costed plan - unseen?

The short interview first discussed on the pre-budget documentation, proposed by over 70 Irish-language and Gaeltacht groups, including community and all-island organisations and their funding authorities. "Investment in the Irish language and in the Gaeltacht from 2016 onwards" (pdf-bilingual) published in early October sought to make the case for additional funding into those sectors. The launch was attended by senior political figures. It was a costed investment plan to create 1,160+ jobs and to provide Irish-Language opportunities for the public.

No No. 1
Cormac sumarised this fourteen page document which provided detailed costings which came to a figure just short of €18million. This amount is in fact €5 million less funding than was provided in 2008. Would the Taoiseach be acting on this and work towards providing this amount? Surprisingly the Taoiseach did not seem to realise that there was a detailed costing in this report as he said that he could not promise anything until he knew the financial implications. Cormac said in translation, "We'll take that as a no!" and the Taoiseach did not demur.

In passing we would point to the money already spent on Water meters (€??m) which are not being used or on the Eircode system (€58m) which is also unusable - did his Government know the financial implications before embarking on these adventures?

No No. 2
The second item discussed was the appointment of a senior minister, at the cabinet table, with responsibility for Irish & the Gaeltacht rather than the current situation where a Minister of State has that as part of his responsibilties (The current occupant of this position also holds responsibilities in the Department of Communications). This is one of the points also in the famous 20 Strategy for the Irish Language which achieved all party approval in late 2010 and has been more or less ignored as the Comisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreán wryly remarked as he made his last statement in Leinster House, "...is the Strategy being implemented? I don’t know. And with all due respect to you as a subcommittee, I believe that you don’t know either as there is no independent audit or review being conducted on the implementation of the Strategy...what gets measured gets done!" (23 Jan 2014) But I digress! The Taoiseach again refused to commit to this request. "We'll take that as a no!" said Cormac again without any qualification from his guest.

No No. 3
The third commitment was that a separate Oireachtas Committee for Irish and Gaeltacht affairs be instituted instead of the current situation where there are sub-committees and committees share various aspects such as the Public Service Oversight and Petitions, Subcommittee on the 20 Year Strategy or the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht and others. Again the Taoiseach refused to commit to anything and inferred that the present set-up was adequate. Another no.

The Ironman?

It was pointed out that the two major opostion parties had already committed to these three points. The Taoiseach said that though he was favourable towards the Language he would not be involved in a competition of promises. And the interview was over.

A tweet received by the programme later in the programme accused the Taoiseach of being more Thatcher than Thatcher herself - No! No! No!

The Minister of State, Joe McHugh was interviewed afterwards and had little to offer other than more discussions - before the end of the year!

Is it worth it to point out that it was a Fine Gael/Labour government that removed the necessity of having Irish to be in the Civil Service (1964) which is the cause of so many problems to day. The current Fine Gael/Labour government has ram-rodded a Gaeltacht Act through the Oireachtas - the first time since the institution of the state that an Act on the language or the Gaeltacht has been passed with out the agreement of all parties.  This act removed the democratic component of the Gaeltacht Authority. They have also watered down some of the legislation on the co-publishing of Acts in both official languages (Minister Shatter). In fact it looks like when the State system errs because of not following the law the Government - in the best "Yes Minister" tradition - changes the law, (e.g. application of points for civil service appointments or the recent issuing of driving summons monolingually).

This is the party that says it looks up to the Big Fellow, Michael Collins. Is it not ironic, indeed tragically so, that their current leader out of his own mouth eschews the written words of the man his party idealises?

"They destroyed our language, all but destroyed it, and in giving us their own they cursed us so that we have become its slaves. Its words seem with us almost an end in themselves, and not as they should be, the medium for expressing our thoughts.

"We have now won the first victory. We have secured the departure of the enemy who imposed upon us that by which we were debased, and by means of which he kept us in subjection. We only succeeded after we had begun to get back our Irish ways, after we had made a serious effort to speak our own language, after we had striven again to govern ourselves. We can only keep out the enemy, and all other enemies, by completing that task....

"...the biggest task will be the restoration of the language. How can we express our most subtle thoughts and finest feelings in a foreign tongue? Irish will scarcely be our language in this generation, not even perhaps in the next. But until we have it again on our tongues and in our minds we are not free, and we will produce no immortal literature...." (The Path to Freedom 1922)

The policies of this Government, and the State Apparatus led to the extraordinary resignation of the person appointed by the President with unique responsibilities including"to monitor compliance by public bodies with the provisions of the Official Languages Act and to take all necessary measures to ensure compliance by public bodies with their duties under the Act." In his own words after ten years in office he was left with two choices. "to stand aside from my appointment as Coimisinéir Teanga on principle to draw attention to these matters or to continue in my role and, consequently, to participate in a pretence.  I am absolutely certain that I made the correct decision. " (23 Jan 2014)

Is it not a tragedy that the Government, and the Civil Service they are elected to use have done nothing and have promised nothing to engage in any serious way in this "the biggest task" outlined by Michael Collins.

Fine Gael has a strong affinity with Michael Collins and his legacy?

"Put on yer headphones..."

A heading in the Irish Times strikes me as richly ironic: "Taoiseach criticised for lack of ‘understanding’ for non-Irish speakers!" A cursury glance at the reports of the Coimisinéir Teanga over the last ten years would explain this ironic reaction.

 Yesterday was Lá na Gaeilge - the Day of Irish - in the Dáil. One day in which Irish was to be the medium in which the business was to be conducted in the National Language.

Of course not all of our public representatives are comfortable in speaking or understanding that language and for that purpose a translation service is apparently available. Deputy Mick Wallace put a question in English to the Taoiseach and the Taoiseach answered in Irish only to be interrupted by the questionnaire asking that he respond in English. The Taoiseach, amidst some uproar, suggested that the Deputy use the headphones to get a clear idea of his reply. This proved a little difficult as headphones did not appear to be readily available at every deputy's seat however he did manage to find one close by and things moved forward. Perhaps the Taoiseach could have been a trifle less confrontational or patronising in his responses especially as Deputy Wallace was apologetic about his linguistic shortcomings. Indeed there are those who accused him of using it for political purposes. The MEP Ming Flanagan tweeted sensibly "it should never used as a weapon. It should be used to express!"

"Cuir ort na cluaisíní!"

This incident caused a flurry of excitement and not a little abuse on social media. If I may quote one of the less insulting ones, "Enda Kenny's actions in the Dail today regarding the Irish Language towards Mick Wallace were downright ignorant."  Perhaps they were but the uproar on social media at the afrontry of the Taoiseach responding to a question in English in the National Language will be viewed with a somewhat jaundiced eye by any Irish Speaker be they from the Gaeltacht or otherwise who has to deal with the state. Another tweet may illustrate this point: "Our leaders should be speaking it everyday and not once a year. There's room for both languages."

Only three weeks ago I received a reply to a written query in the National Language to the Chairman of an Oireachtas in English.  The irony is that at the base of this letter was the legend, "Cuirfear fáilte roimh chomhfhreagras i nGaeilge!" (Correspondance in Irish will be welcome!). This is by no means a unique experience. The Office of the Comisinéir Teanga is inundated with hundreds of examples of such "ignorance" each year.

Cathal MacCoille of Morning Ireland remarked on a radio programme yesterday evening that he had attended the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis over the weekend in Derry and that a simultaneous translation system was available, and in use, for all a delegates throughout the event. He lamented that the Dáil, with a much smaller number of Deputies did not seem to be able to manage that. That is a matter for house keeping. I wonder is that an area for the Ceann Chomhairle's staff to sort out?  He further remarked that no one in the European Parliament or at EU meetings seems to have any problem in donning these headphones as translations are available in all (except one) of the working languages.

I live in an Irish speaking area. I shop, have my car serviced, attend Church Services, attend local parish meetings, buy my medicines etc all through Irish. I live in a district where parents with children with chronic medical conditions are advised and encouraged to change the language of the family so that the State does not have to provide the requisite on-going treatment in the child's own language.

When I have to deal with the state I am constantly put on the long finger, "The person with Irish is off sick today!" or "on her lunch break!" I MUST use English, no translation service provided!

I see little understanding of mine or of those encountered daily by anyone endevouring to use our National Language in dealing with the manderins of state! Perhaps this incident will help in the understanding of this daily problem for the Irish speaking citizens in their own country.

As seen by ASNC in tuairisc.ie today!

Left wing or left out? Fine Gael wants to repossess Irish?

A recent article by Miriam Lord in the Irish Times mentioned the fact that a new Fine Gael TD, Gabrielle McFadden, was organising an Irish conversation group in Leinster House. "Sinn Féin has kinda taken the language over in the Dáil. I want to take it back off them, because it belongs to all of us."

Taking it back?

More recently the journalist, Ciarán Dunbar, asked the question "Is Irish now a language of the left wing!" (Article in Irish in Meoin Eile 23/2/2015). Perhaps it is hardly a surprising question since most of the speaking of Irish in the Oireachtas is instigated by Sinn Féin. The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny has, as far as I can see, never spoken on any subject other than the language itself unless in response to a question from some measure of Sinn Féin.

Perhaps it's is not so much that SF have taken the language in the Dáil (or anywhere else in our political life) but rather the other parties have abandoned it. One is reminded of the words of Seán Ó Cuirreáin to an Oireachtas Committee last year before he resigned. "I believe that the language is continuously being edged aside, pushed towards the margins of society and that includes much of the public sector."

Indeed I feel that Sinn Féin use Irish, not so much out of love of our National Language as a political expedient. (See for instance look of the "Irish Version of their website" or in their press releases almost all of which are in English.) With one or two notable exceptions - Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and Peadar Tóibín TD for instance - the use of Irish is fairly peremptory. If there is something important to say say on finance or the ubiquitous water controversy or farming or jobs, it is always the Queens English that this and every other party uses. I'm told that translation services are not always available. Why should they be when nobody speaks it except to flaunt a pseudo nationalism?

When was anybody expelled for unparliamentary language in Irish? Would the Ceann Comhairle know if somebody called a minister a liar in Irish?

Seriously though, the Minister for the Gaeltacht and all that other stuff, Heather Humphreys, has called on us to make 2016 a "Year for Irish!" My question is what is she and her party going to DO about it? They have produced heads of bill for the new Official Language Acts of which the current Coimisinéir Teanga, Rónán Ó Dómhnall, has declared that outside of one or two small details (the right of citizens to use their Irish form of their name and address) and some minor technical details, "there is nothing in these heads to strengthen language rights,"(our translation).

Does not the phrase appropriated by the Irish Times in it's editorial 9th December 2013, after the announcement of the decision of the resignation of the first Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, seems moot. Speaking of the many, indeed countless promises of this and previous governments they thought that there was a case to be made in describing them as “a fudge, a farce or a falsehood”

We are trained to be so!

Appointment of new Education Minister reminds us of historic address at founding of Sinn Féin.

Jan O'Sullivan,
Education Minister

Our Taoiseach in his wisdom has appointed a new Minister for Education who hopefully will have a better understanding of the heritage, not to say the psyche of the Irish nation. That she realises that she presides over a Department which fifty odd years did the bulk of its business through a language that today is understood by 1.5% of its officials. (2010 Report of Commissioner Teanga)

I recently came across a piece from the eminent surgeon Oliver St John Gogarty when he addressed the founding meeting of Sinn Féin. He made a fierce attack on the education system under the British in November 1905. He was echoing President Douglas Hyde twelve years earlier and impressed Arthur Griffith so much that he quoted extensively from the address in his paper, The United Irishman.

"Money was taken from the Irish people by forced taxation to supply the needs of Irish education. How was this Irish money used to educate Ireland? The language of Ireland was suppressed, the history of Ireland was ignored and mis-stated, the attention of Ireland was turned to a foreign country, the character and tradition of which was the direct contrary of the character of the Irish tradition. The focus of national life was set in London.

Oliver St John Gogarty

"Who was responsible for this? Ourselves! Yes, without either ignorance or apathy so preposterous and absurd a proposition as that a foreign nation could or should rightly educate another would not be tolerated for a moment. England dare not educate us as Irishmen: She would be raising up judges to denounce her and condemn. She taught us for her own purpose and we had taste of the result - narrowness in the primary schools, grinding in the Intermediate, and the final stages of education left unprovided with a university or any means of training either efficient or adequate for national life, with the result that we were dependent on England, for we were trained to be so."

Is the situation any better one hundred and ten years later? "The government (Dept of Education) taught us for her own purpose and we had taste of the result - narrowness in the primary schools, grinding in the Intermediate, and the final stages of education left unprovided ... leaving us with a dependance on English and English values, for we were trained to be so."  In other words we are trained and expected to acquiesce to the unspoken but clearly understood mantra “Speak Irish among yourselves, but don’t speak it to us!”.

Today we have a former Taoiseach positing that we would have been better off had we accepted the John Redmond compromise. When we have a present Taoiseach who considers Irish and the Gaeltachta as a museum exhibit - lumped as a tail-end to the lowly department of Arts & Heritage. Or to quote a contemporary speaker, "we merely have a sub-section which deals with the Irish language and Gaeltacht issues – a sub-section of a department which is large and diverse... And that sub-section is located far from the centre of power...it is at the bottom of the internal power chain within its own department; and that parent department is at the bottom of the power chain to which all the Government Departments belong, which means that it is difficult for it to have any significant impact on policy formulation or on the implementation of the policies of those other departments which have a central role in the implementation of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish language...” (Five of the years of the 20 Year Strategy have already expired!)

The Taoiseach

If we had a government serious about the language there are many many things they could do without costing the taxpayer a cent. Our Taoiseach could speak it voluntarily in the Dáil and not merely because the leader of Sinn Féin uses it to ask a question. He could treat the people of the Gaeltacht (and the Islands) as real people and not as exhibits. He could decide that all state bodies and initiatives had names in Irish from their conception (How many people know what "The Gathering" was called in Irish?). He could employ people who are competent to deal with people in the National Language instead of forcing the use of English. He could have teachers trained correctly instead of the half hearted way the language is handled now.

Taoiseach, we use English with the State because you have not trained your bureaucracy (which should be our bureaucracy) to do anything else. And they they say there is no demand. "Language rights are permanent rights; they are not concessions or privileges granted at times of prosperity." (Seán Ó Cuirreáin).

Can any of us point to a politician who believes that?

Do we believe it ourselves?

Enda sends a linguistic message!

Speak Irish among yourselves, but don’t speak it to us!

I don't know Joe McHugh. They say he is a competant professional and I'm sure they are right! But he has been selected to work in a area for which he is extraordinarily illprepared. He cannot interact with the people on who's behalf he is supposed to be working. This is a pity because he is guaranteed no time to ease into his position but has been despatched on a short course to "brush up" on his Irish. The fact that the Taoiseach thinks that one short course will achieve the fluency that fourteen years failed to do speaks volumes for the naivety of Enda Kenny.

Does he?

The anger of the public has been demonstrated by the intensity of twitter and facebook contributions since the appointment was made. The reactions ranged from total incomprehension to deep anger and frustration. In this writers experience it is even more intense that that generated thn the twitter storm generated by the principled resignation of the first Language Commissioner. Remember the reasons he gave for his resignation and the conclusion he came to:

"The choice I had was to stand aside from my appointment as Coimisinéir Teanga on principle to draw attention to these matters or to continue in my role and, consequently, to participate in a pretence." 

(Address to Joint Oireachtas Committee, 23 Jan 2014)

Does anyone believe that this decision of our Taoiseach gives the lie to this statement? He is reported as saying that the lack of facility of the new Minister is an advantage in that it draws attention to the language. What on earth does he believe the responsibility for "Gaeltacht Affairs" is about?

Tom O'Donnell, TD Some people point to the appointment of Tom O'Donnell as Minister for the Gaeltacht in 1973 as somebody with less than fluent Irish. I actually remember him attending functions back then and hearing him speak. Though he could hardly be called an exponent of Ciceronian-rhetoric, in either language, he made his points succinctly and clearly and in Irish. There is another difference, he was a senior minister who sat at Cabinet with the sole responsibility for the Gaeltacht. The last such. Whether he was successful as a Gaeltacht minister is another matter  - enthusiastic and active for the development of the Gaeltacht areas he was indeed. The status of Irish in the Civil Service however was demoted by his Minister for Finance, Richie Ryan and suffered a blow from which it has never recovered. This and other administrations conduct down the years was commented on by Seán Ó Cuirreáin some months before his decision to resign in an address on the launching of Coláiste na hÉireann.

The Taoiseach said, in a comment which could indeed be interpreted as insulting to the the new Minister of State, that he had little choice but to select Mr McHugh with such a small pool of suitable candidates. He actually sacked at least two Ministers of State with fluency and experience in using the language, in this shuffle.

 There is of course one fresh face he overlooked which has almost the same criteria as the man selected. His only disadvantage being that he is a frst time TD (This did not seem to be a problem though in other appointments!) The man I am talking about lives in a area peripheral to the Gaeltacht. He is in a constituency ripe for yet another TD from the Sinn Féin party with an articulate and enthusiastic candidate from deep with in the strongest area of the Gaeltacht straining at the leash. The difference between this Seán Kyne and the one selected is that he has demonstrated an enthusiasm for his constituents, improving the Irish he learnt in the fourteen years in order to better serve constituents living in Gaeltacht areas. He has shared information on his website and the social media networks in that language. Because of this he has earned the respect and indeed praise of many members of the public and indeed his political enemys. Contrast with Mr McHugh whose tweets and statements before his appointment are exclusively in English and he had displayed thus far no interest and indeed little knowledge of the problems experienced by Irish speakers in dealing with the state.

This decision of our Taoiseach leaves many people speechless, angry and uncomprehending. The only place many Irish speakers can vent this is in the electronic media since the Irish speaking print media has effectively been gagged by a Government financed QUANGO. (see also "The Gaeltacht Voice is silenced!") Nevertheless the controversy has managed to penetrate into the usually hostile or at best indifferent English print and vision media.

Many Irish people were incredulous when the "Irish" Daily Mail's main headline, "An insult to our language!" And look at this from the Belfast Telegraph - New Gaeltacht ministers who can't speak Irish 'will become fluent'

Champion of the Irish Language!

Hidden away in the Treibh section of the Irish Times on Tuesday was an article, The wouldn't would they? which indicates some of the wonder this decision has engendred. The writer replys to his own question, "Well, they just did and we now have a Gaeltacht minister who doesn’t have enough Irish to conduct a credible live interview about Gaeltacht affairs with RnaG or Nuacht TG4. The disbelief at the promotion of McHugh is, of course, no reflection on a capable, hard-working and respected public servant, but choosing to assign to him the Gaeltacht brief...." Thursday's (17/7/2014) Irish Times  has a plethera of letters as well. Later on the Saturday morning the Editorial commented: A tongue-tied minister. (19/7/2014). The organ of the Irish in America, Irish Central, said "Irish language minister with poor Irish is a complete farce and insult!" (22/7/2014) and Sunday Independent, It seems we are destined to forever talk about Irish and never get around to actually speaking it (John Downing 27/7/2014).
A tweet which says, "The whole thing reads like an unaired epsode from Fr Ted," directs to this article in the Irish Independent! The story even reached the hallowed pages of the BBC's Europe site, "Irish protest as 'rusty' minister Joe McHugh books course!" and God alone where else!

 All these comments and accounts point to an understanding of this Government's and the whole State Bureaucracy's attitude as “Speak Irish among yourselves, but don’t speak it to us!”

 The "language question" is extremly complex in all juristrictions. One just has to follow the tweets of Indigenous Tweets to see that.  or to read the report of the first International Conference of Language Commissioners and Ombudsman to realize that. Perhaps one of the Canadian Commissioners encapsulted the philosophy behind language rights in a single sentence, "We are talking not only about rights here but about the right thing to do!"

Enda Kenny has not done the right thing.

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But at least he's not a woman....

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• "The middle classes think it a sign of vulgarity to speak Irish."

Thomas Davis, Young Ireland, 1845

• "We must bring pressure upon our politicians not to snuff it (Irish) out by their tacit discouragement merely because they do not happen themselves to understand it."

Douglas Hyde (1892)

• "There can be no greater delusion than to imagine that a language can be kept alive alone by teaching."

 Eoin Mac Neill (1900)

"I believe that the language is continuously being edged aside, pushed towards the margins of society and that includes much of the public sector. I would not support the premise that the fault lies primarily with politicians but it appears to me, notwithstanding those within the State sector who support the language, that there are stronger and more widespread forces in place who have little or no concern for the future of our national language"

Seán Ó Cuirreáin (2014)

"...the Irish language is not worth knowing..." the real and present danger!

Several things stirred me during the Christmas period. Two interviews with poets, an article in the Irish Times and a blog article from the prolific keyboard of journalist Concubhar Ó Liatháin.

Irish fiction?

The first was a television interview conducted by Morning Ireland's Cathal Mac Coille with the vetern poet and writer, still happily with us, Máire Mhac an tSaoi. This was a delightful hour or so where both writer and interviewer truly understood each other and where, as far as one could see there a genuine but not restrictive respect, affection and understanding between the interviewer and interviewee. Difficult questions were asked and answered and there were some beautiful moments where this over eighty year old poet recited some of her poems as part of the programme.

The second interview was one of the late Nobel Lauriate, Séamus Heaney by Olivia O'Leary. Again this was a wonderful piece of radio this time in front of an audience and again the interviewer showed her knowledge and respect for the poet. One of her questions however pulled me up short. She was asking if he ever felt drawn into the English "niceness" (I think was the word she used!). This is the way in which she felt that the English tried to "own one." She then said that when she was a broadcaster with the BBC long ago, she was very conscious of the possiblity of loosing her "Irishness" which she identified as her accent. That she always insisted in pronouncing the "R" in "Arthur Scargill" the Irish way.

It struck me as sad that this intelligent woman would not have had this problem in asserting her Irishness had she been in full possession of that most identifiable and unique attribute of Irishness, the language. She would perhaps never have feared this sublimation into Englishness and been like, say the brodcaster from Llanelli's Hew Edwards, a stalwart of BBC News. I cannot imagine this would have occured to Máire Mhac an tSaoi in all her international appointments or to her interviewer.

Irish fiction?

An article in this weekend's Irish Times was on a visit to the Dublin Writers' Museum by Rosita Boland. She mentons that it is twenty years since she last visited the museum. She was puzzeled by one of the display cases. "There is the same seemingly random pairing of featured writers in certain display cases. Samuel Beckett and Máirtín Ó Cadhain share one such space. At first, I think it’s because they were both born in 1906, as the text panels note, but the audio guide informs me it’s because they both “chose not to write in English”.

That immediately struck a chord as Concuubhar Ó Liatháin in his iGaeilge blog, recently commented on a new laureate (Irish), which includes a payment of €150,000, to be be awarded to "what the Arts Council describes as “an outstanding fiction writer”, writing in the English language." I must say his somwhat acerbic comment expresses a view with which I wholeheartedly agree! Should the Irish taxpayers' money be spent in promoting English language fiction or is it possible that Irish fiction and fiction in Irish are not the same?

In a recent (and unique) hour-long interview on Raidío na Life (Irish) our Taoiseach stated that he asked the English Queen Elizabeth II, during her historic visit to Ireland, what she thought the greatest gift England had given Ireland. She replied, "The English language." The Taoiseach agreed with her and indeed, incredulously, admitted this in the broadcast. One wonders if he ever read the address delivered by Douglas Hyde, later first President of Ireland, in 1893. (Arguably without this address he would not be Taoiseach at all!) "I have often heard people thank God that if the English gave us nothing else they gave us at least their language. In this way they put a bold face upon the matter, and pretend that the Irish language is not worth knowing, and has no literature. But the Irish language is worth knowing, or why would the greatest philologists of Germany, France, and Italy be emulously studying it, and it does possess a literature, or why would a German savant have made the calculation that the books written in Irish between the eleventh and seventeenth centuries, and still extant, would fill a thousand octavo volumes."

Maybe we could all do with reading his short address to realise that "in Anglicising ourselves wholesale we have thrown away with a light heart the best claim which we have upon the world's recognition of us as a separate nationality."

Indeed the words of the Coimisinéir Teanga to the Oireachtas Committee last December (2013) could well be regarded as an echo: "As we begin to regain our economic sovereignty, it would be a travesty if we were to lose our linguistic sovereignty – a cornerstone of our cultural identity, heritage and soul as a nation. I believe this to be a clear and present danger." (Translation)

The President, the bureaucracy and the language!

" I find it shocking the ease with which authoritarianism emerges and the expressions of authoritarianism….." Michael D Higgins, President of Ireland

In a recent interview the President of Ireland made the following comments:

The President of Ireland

Dúbhghlás de hÍde 1938-1945

Michael D Higgins 2011-

"I think that one needs to address….institutional inadequacy. How is a legislative proposal initiated and where does it come from? How is it processed and is it processed with participation? How is it administered? I’ve seen advocacy groups work for 20 years on getting as far as a piece of legislation but then the implementation of the legislation is frustrated by a whole set of bureaucratic blocks.

"And there is a very serious bureaucratic problem in this country…a very serious problem of hierarchy. It’s very fine to ask public servants to be flexible but there is a hierarchical structure there. There are still many elements of patriarchy and what I think is extraordinary to me at this stage of my life looking back on it after nearly a half a century as a sociologist, I find it shocking the ease with which authoritarianism emerges and the expressions of authoritarianism…..I spoke about it recently to a very senior person, about where people are almost waiting for their authoritarian moment…(in the bureaucracy)

"Yes, oh yes. In many cases therefore it is sometimes quite difficult to be original, to be flexible, to be very human. It is nearly impossible to be vulnerable. Because the culture of never being caught with a mistake just completely stymies real development.

"When a country is recovering, and I think it is, from what it has been plunged into by a false model of a speculative economy, you find people are very flexible and innovative and creative. And also people value the warmth of relationships. I find that again in relation to groups I’ve visited, receptions I’ve had here....."

Language and bureaucracy!
A very good example, and there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of this, not to put too fine a point on it, obfuscation, is the management of Government policy on the Irish Language.

Take last Thursday's confirmation by the Government of Minister Brendan Howlin's decision in November 2011 to amalgamate the Office of Coimisinéir Teanga with that of the Ombudsman. This document (issued in English only at the time) excited strong and hostile comment and, as far as I can see, no favourable comment.

The press release from the Department that handles Gaeltacht affairs, (downgraded itself by this Government from a community department to a culture and arts department) purports to clarify the matter.

But does it?

This is what it says:

"An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner): The Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga is to be merged with the Office of the Ombudsman. A statutorily appointed Coimisinéir Teanga, based in the Gaeltacht, will continue to independently exercise existing powers under the Official Languages Act."

Later on it "clarifies" what this means in practice in a note for editors:

"An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner)
• The Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga is to merge with the Office of the Ombudsman.
• The statutory powers and functions of An Coimisinéir Teanga under the Official Languages Act 2003 will transfer to the Ombudsman and will be delegated to An Coimisinéir Teanga under the amending legislation.
• An Coimisinéir Teanga will continue to be statutorily appointed and exercise independent powers under the Official Languages Act 2003 and will also continue to be based in the Gaeltacht."

Hostile Policies
Fine Gael/Labour Coalition Governments have an unenviable reputation when it comes to the Irish Language and its recognition in state affairs.
The Cosgrave administration abolished the requirement for proficiency in the language among Civil Servants.
The current administration regards Gaeltacht Affairs as a matter of culture of Arts rather than as a matter of Community as the previous administration - however inneffective we might think it - did.
They abolished the requirement for the publishing of legislation bilingually.
They also abolished the direct democratic elections of Údarás na Gaeltacht.
They succeeded in breaking the cross party unanimity on the Gaeltacht and Language, after almost ninety years.
Other policies of this Government such as the closing down of rural schools and Garda Stations have had a disproportionate effect on the fabric of Gaeltacht Communities.

Most Irish Taoiseach?
The further delicious irony is that the current Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, uses more Irish in the Dáil than any Taoiseach on all aspects of policy (not only Irish or Gaeltacht matters) prompted by Gerry Adams, the leader of the junior opposition party!

Who was consulted!
Is this not a downgrading of the office of Coimisinéir Teanga? Or does it enhance the office as the Minister of State has mantained since.  Does it reflect the "comprehensive consultation" that the Minister of State's superior mantains has been engaged in since the Howlin Document was issued? It is interesting that nobody has come forward, not least the two offices involved, confirming that they were involved in this "comprehensive consultation!" Above all does it save money or the amount of bureaucracy (and therefore cost) involved in the work of this important, although perhaps fairly weak office.

A slight independance?
Let's look at the office itself.

It is an Office of State and the Coimisinéir is appointed directly by the President of Ireland of Ireland (as is the Ombudsman). This appointment is by the President on the advice of the government following a resolution passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas recommending the appointment.  (Dáil,Seanaid and Úactharán). The role and functions of the Coimisnéir Teanga, limited as they are, are clearly laid out on the Office internet site.

The new arrangement as outlined in the Department release appears to remove the direct connection with the President and the Oireachtas, and possibly the direct communication with the Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs. Instead the offices Coimisinéir will be delegated by the Ombusdman who will be the "de jure" Comisinéir Teanga. If he is delegated (and this is the word used in the release) of the Ombudsman then "ipso facto" we have an extra bureaucratic layer to the office.

The direct responsibility and access is gone and the extra works (and presumably expense) in becoming, in effect, a sub-office of the Ombudsman will further increase the work and the delay in the expedition of his reports and God alone knows how effective they would be in encouragement action.

The Presidency
The Coimisinéir will  "continue to be statutorily appointed" says this release. What does this mean? Will the President appoint the Comisinéir while the Ombudsman gives the office its powers? What is the sense, logic or indeed implications of this not only to the Office of Coimisinéir Teanga but to the Office of the President itself?  Indeed an unfortunate irony for an office first occupied by a man whose short paper "The necessity for de-anglicising the Irish nation!"  can justly be seen as what revivified the Irish people at the end of the nineteenth century and the ideals of which appear to be at best forgotten and at worst actively opposed by the administrative bureaucracy in Ireland!

Adams modestly hits the nail on the head!

A correction to Miriam Lord, a backhanded compliment for Enda Kenny and a short exposition of his philosophy on speaking Irish.

The following appeared in Miriam Lord's inestimable column in the Irish Times (Dáil Sketch 10/10/2012):

"..Gerry doesn’t like people criticising him for trying to improve his Irish on the floor of the Dáil. He particularly doesn’t like sketch writers drawing attention to his efforts to speak the first language during Leaders’ Questions. In fact he went out of his way to point this out in no uncertain terms to this particular writer during a recent encounter in the corridors. We should be “encouraging” him, was Gerry’s view. It’s “lazy journalism”, he sulked..."

Image: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland

She was talking about Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, who is possibly responsible for more Irish being spoken, albeit sometimes not perfect Irish, in the Dáil Chamber certainly in the past fifty years. Indeed he is possibly the person responsible for the most Irish being spoken in either chamber of the Oireachtas since the late Pól Ó Foigheal was a senator. Hopefully he will be eclipsed by some other deputies and senators, especially those whose mother tongue it is!

However back to the case in point. Mr Adams it appears read Ms Lord's column (don't we all?) and chose to take issue in a well reasoned response which I reproduce in full here:

A chara, – 

I am a fan of Miriam Lord. I enjoy her colour pieces and admire her writing skills. I do take issue with her, however, on the matter of Irish in the Dáil (Dáil Sketch, October 10th). 

For the record I did not ask her to encourage me. I put it to her in a perfectly reasonable way that she should be encouraging the use of Irish in the Dáil. I think all of us should do that. And not only in the Dáil. And not only during Seachtain na Gaeilge. 

It is a matter of puzzlement to me that Oireachtas members with much more Irish than me do not speak the language more often in the chamber. Of course the English language media generally does not use the Irish language contributions. So maybe that is the reason why many TDs, including Ministers, use only English. 

The Taoiseach is the exception. He will respond to questions in Irish though his answers are no clearer or informative than his responses in English. Ach sin scéal eile. 

For my part in my modest way I use Irish whenever I can. With my Sinn Féin colleagues and other Oireachtas members. In my everyday life. With my family and friends. That is what language is for. So, I will continue in my humble way to put questions in Irish to our Taoiseach. I encourage other TDs and Seanadóirí to do likewise. This is not a competition. Everyone who has Irish should use it. Everywhere. 

– Yours, etc, 

 GERRY ADAMS TD, Sinn Féin President, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

As someone myself, it has always been a "puzzlement" to me to how people, including those whose cardle language it is, choose not to use it in public fora. I feel this letter from one of our political leaders gives a philosophy of use which is sadly lacking in virtually all public figures in whatever walk of life, political, eclesiastical, business, or academic etc.

Adams has hit the nail on the head. "Everyone who has Irish should use it. Everywhere."

As the old saying has it "Beatha teanga í a labhairt!"

• Féach ar seo chomh maith (Look at these too!)
No Irish for the Irish Parliament - An Sionnach Fionn
In praise of Gerry Adams and the Fáinne - Slugger O'Toole

Developing language policy by hunch!

It is hard to see a real love of the Irish heritage in the actions taken by the current government and epecially in the majority party.

Opened by a President closed by Fine Gael?

"The "Free State" never had any intention to revive the native language. They always needed to cloy to English norms, without which, they would be dumb and blind. Those who were given power by the English, were totally "cleansed" of any trace of our traditions and culture. They are irrelevent and what ever they do is irrelevent. We must press on without them. Beidh lá breá gréine in Éirinn lá. Labhair Gaeilge! Droch rath ar na 'Léinte Gorma'" .

This is a comment typical of many which have appeared in the last few days following the shoch announcememnt of the planned watering-down, if not the total abolition of the Language Commissioner's office.

A paper by Dúbhglás de hÍde, 1st President of Ireland "The necessity for the de-anglicising the Irish nation!" instigated the birth of the nation. Are we now smothering that same nation through thoughtless hunches?

Fine Gael has form!
Earlier this year the Language Commissioner, Seán Ó Cuireáin in a report described the ending nearly 40 years ago of the requirement for civil servants to have competence in Irish as well as English, when addressing a conference in Dublin last February.

This decision was taken by a Fine Gael Minister of Finance and in fact a lot of the so-called costs of translations etc would harldy be neccessary if this dicision had not been taken as there would be sufficient personnal "in house" to handle the business in both languages. He cites as an example that the "Department of Education and Skills, which recently revealed that only 1.5% of its administrative staff had sufficient competence in Irish to be able to provide service in that language." This in a Department that to a large extent was entrusted with the "revival of the Irish language" at the foundation of the state.

 Enda Kenny himself commented on a report from the Education Department in 2006: "....it's pretty ironic that the Department of Education, which has been dealing with the teaching of Irish for more than 80 years, was not in a position to translate this report itself and had to contract an outside company to get the document translated." (23 June 2006). Is it possible that Richie Ryan's decision some forty years previously had an influence?

Fine Gael's Richie Ryan statement as he announced this change proclaimed that this decision will lead "replacing the compulsion which did so much damage to the Irish language over the past half century with enthusiasm for the language, we will have people more readily disposed to use Irish.” Another hunch?

Mr Ryan, where are these people?

Mantaining the "murder machine!"
P. H. Pearse, President of the Provisional Government in 1916 referred to the education system here as the "Murder Machine." It is not so long ago since the leader of Fine Gael, now Taoiseach Enda Kenny, promoted the abolition of Irish as a neccessary subject in our Leaving Certificate examination. He was approached last year on his policy to eject Irish from the core curriculum at Leaving Certificate level. When asked to explain how the survival prospects of an imperilled language could be improved by lowering its social status, he replied that his policy for Irish in the schools is based on a personal 'hunch.' (Letter to newspapers 8 Feb 2011)

Fine Gael is not alone!

This notion of change be "hunch" or without adequate, or indeed any, clear notion as to why an action should be taken is demonstrated in a recent article from the pen of Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole, a journalist with whose opinions this writer does not always agree. He asks: "Want to hear about a daft idea that deserves to be shelved?"

His vision for Irish is perhaps laudable. "My vision for Irish in our education system is simple: I believe we should equip our people, and particularly our young people, with a real, a useful, and a communicative knowledge of the Irish Language." His 'personal hunch' however leads him to state, "All students will be offered a choice as to whether to study Irish after the Junior Certificate examination."

Language planning by intuition!
And now in what appears to be a continuation of their Irish Language policy by "hunch," they have announced the intention, as part of the "Public Service Reform" announced by the Government, to "merge" the office of the Language Commissioner with that of the Ombudsan. In a statement Seán Ó Cuireáin confirmed that he had not been consulted on the decision and was informed by telephone on Wednesday night. This is breathtaking not only displaying a lack of courtesy but also a lack of evidence of any real considerationof the impact of such a decision - another hunch?

The wording in the policy states "Merge functions of Language Commissioner with Ombudsman Office." This appears as a decision. Then this rider is added, "To be progressed in the context of the ongoing review of the Official Languages Act 2003" In other words it is removing the examination of the independance of the Language Commissioner's office from the review of the Act. It ties the hands of the review. Why?

The ostensible reason for this decision was to save money. "The need to reduce public spending and drive greater efficiency is clearly evident and has been committed to. We will relentlessly focus on delivering better value for money through the implementation of Public Service Reform."

Let's examine the costs. According to the Junior Minister with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, Dinny McGinley, the cost for this office is €600,000 per annum. The bulk of this cost is salaries and rental of the premises in the Gaeltacht. The staff of the office are civil servents and the plan states that no personell will loose their jobs. The Commissioner himself has been appointed by the President for a term which expires in 2016. The rent for the premises is being paid to another State agency, Údarás na Gaeltachta. It is not unreasonable to assume that any additional costs are the cost of the work accomplished through the office in serving the public. Mr Kenny says there will be no reduction in the standard and efficiency of the office under the new regime. Minister Howlin echoes this in relation to the total programme, "These measures are designed to make service delivery more effective and efficient!"

Could it be that this is another hunch?

Mr Kenny, where is the saving?

Are they alone?
The other parties have little to be proud of either.
Sinn Féin, whom one might think would be full of practical love of their language presided over the closing down of the only Irish Language daily newspaper.
Fianna Fáil did little to change the hostile legislation of Richie Ryan when they returned to power. Yes while they were in power the did eventually pass a language act 71 years after they came to power. Indeed there are those that feel that even this would not have happened but for the dedication and sheer nerve of Éamon Ó Cuív.
The Labour Party have hardly covered themselves in glory in the over 80 years since the foundation of the state. Michael D Higgins' steadfastness in the face of relentless criticism resulted in the foundation of the now much praised TG4.

Is it any wonder that the people of the Gaeltacht and the language are totally disillusioned?

The Irish people require leadership in restoring its self respect as a nation. Seán Ó Cuireáin in some small way was helping in that. Not all people thought that his office was as useful as it could be or indeed that some of the aspects of the Language Act itself were that useful but it was all we had and it was subject to review. Will that review be realistic, honest, scientific or will all the changes if any be based on a hunch?

The prospect is terrifying!

• Incidentally in compiling this piece we found that all the Irish Language sites had complete English Language versions. None of the  Government Sites we looked at had! Need we say more!

Enda's reply!

The answer given by Enda Kenny to the student Francis Whelan on Pat Kenny's show on Irish as a core subject in the Leaving Cert:

"I love the language. What I want to say here is my whole thrust here is to strengthen the language and what I want to do is examine first of all the content of the curriculum and see if it is relevant for future needs. 

Secondly examine seriously the impact of the investment that we are making in the training of our teachers to teach the language. Language is about sounds, music, words, it should be something that should be loved and if it is by primary school children then they don't have a difficulty with it up along the line. 

At the other end Emma, and I will not, I will not introduce the abolition of compulsion until I have finished those assessments and finished them properly. At the other end I will increase the oral Irish marks to 50% which is of an advantage to the people who go to Gaeltacht areas and get that líofacht or blas and also look at the question of increased marks for those who take honours Irish or the ordinary level who intend to go on to third level. 

So far from weakening the language or doing it down, I actually want to strengthen it in the sense that there are hundreds of thousands  of people in this country who spent 12-13-14 years studying this language and cannot put 5 sentences together and we've had 60 years of defence behind compulsion. Irish people have always rejected compulsion. 

Its time for us to grow up on these matters and my belief is if we teach this properly, if we have a relevant curriculum , people love the language and they take it right through to leaving cert  and it becomes much more important for everybody. 

And I respect the views on both sides here Pat. TG4, RnaG, many of the language movements do great work but we should not hide behind the defence of something that has failed.

Ejection of Irish - letter

A Eagarthóir, a chara,

Enda Kenny proposes to eject Irish from the core curriculum at Leaving Certificate level. When asked to explain how the survival prospects of an imperilled language could be improved by lowering its social status, he replied that his policy for Irish in the schools is based on a personal 'hunch.' 

Fine Gael prides itself on basing all its other policies on information and research, but there is no evidence, theoretical or empirical, that a threatened language can be saved from extinction by lowering its social status compared to that of its rival. It just does not happen.

Fine Gael's Policy

The authorities on the subject tell us that the speakers of high status languages rarely learn lower status languages. Some, of course, do so. They may be motivated by interest or love of the language and of its associated culture, or by national or local sentiment. Such people are at the heart of language maintenance, but in any society they will always be a minority. Majorities of speakers of high status languages learn second languages only where they perceive that language to be essential in their lives.

If the Irish people wish to maintain and restore the language that is unique to Ireland, the living link between past, present and future generations, they must provide the kinds of social supports that were lost through conquest. Those supports include the constitutional and legal standing of the language, the social standing and number of those who habitually use the language, the degree to which the language is perceived to be essential in education and in all other domains of social life, the extent of its use in government and public administration, its visibility and presence in public communication, the prestige of its literature and associated culture and the measure of the social functions that can be performed through the language.

Since 1893, when the language was on the point of extinction, it has been the objective of the national movement, in its widest sense, to ensure survival and restoration of Irish, and on several of the above-mentioned counts Irish is now doing well. But in 1973-75, a part of the national movement, Fine Gael, told us that it would vastly improve the prospects for the survival of Irish if its status was lowered in the state apparatus. We opposed their idea. In the absence of the strongest possible balancing status-supports and interventions, we pointed out that in any society the subordinated language would, in a short time, be driven out and replaced by the dominant language. As they are telling us today, Fine Gael told us then that our critique was 'nonsense'. They went ahead and withdrew the status-supports of Irish in the state apparatus. What was the result?

The Department of Education once operated almost entirely through Irish. Recent research has shown that of the adult population, born in Ireland and of all levels of education, over 9 percent are Fluent or Very Fluent in Irish. Yet, as a result of Fine Gael's removal of the status of Irish in 1973 and its replacement by some voluntary incentives, in the Department of Education, which is the state's primary and most influential cultural agency, and which one must assume has a highly educated workforce, the proportion of staff who can provide a service through Irish is down now to 1.5 percent! That is hardly an advertisement for lowering the status of Irish in the education system.

Is sinne,

Pádraig Mac Fhearghusa, uachtarán Chonradh na Gaeilge

Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh, iar-uachtarán

Séagh Mac Siúrdáin, iar-uachtarán

Tomás Mac Ruairí, iar-uachtarán

Gearóid Ó Cairealláin, iar-uachtarán

Áine De Baróid, iar-uachtarán

Íte Ní Chionnaith, iar-uachtarán

Pádraig Ó Snodaigh, iar-uachtarán

Maolsheachlainn Ó Caollaí, iar-uachtarán

Cathal Ó Feinneadha, iar-uachtarán

Donegal Gaeltacht community confronts Fine Gael!

Gráinne Mhic Géidigh addresses the meeting

 Tuairisc ar an gcruinniú i nGaeilge

A large crowd of 150 attended the public meeting organised by Guth na Gaeltachta and Coiste Mhná Tí Thír Chonaill in An Chrannóg, Gaoth Dobhair, on Tuesday 15 February. The meeting was chaired by Éamonn Mac Niallais and he got proceedings underway shortly after 7:00pm. He explained that the purpose of the meeting was primarily to discuss Fine Gael’s policy of ending the compulsory status of Irish in the Leaving Certificate.

After introducing the guest speakers: Dinny Mc Ginley TD (Fine Gael), Pearse Doherty TD (Sinn Féin), Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fáil), John Duffy and Seán Ó Maolchallann (Green Party) Mac Niallais relayed apologies  from An Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Councillor Frank McBrearty (Labour). The chairman then read out the statement he had received from Councillor McBrearty. The content of that letter set the tone for the night i.e. vehement opposition to Fine Gael’s policy!

Before hearing from the guest speakers, Mac Niallais outlined the work Guth na Gaeltachta had been involved in since its last public meeting and the impartial role that it was undertaking as a non-political cross-party support group for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. He explained the critical importance of the Leaving Certificate in the Irish education system as a whole and how Fine Gael’s policy would have a disastrous impact on the role of the Irish language throughout the system, not just for the Leaving Cert.  As a result, the future for the Irish Summer Colleges and the very economic viability of Gaeltacht communities would be severly threatened. This view was strongly echoed by Gráinne Mhic Géidigh who was representing the Mná Tí.

Seán Ó Maolchallann, acting as a spokesperson for John Duffy, outlined the Green Party’s policy  on the Irish language. He finished by saying that their party was 150% opposed to Fine Gael’s policy! Pearse Doherty TD referred to the launch of Sinn Féin’s Irish language proposals outside Fine Gael HQ earlier that day. He expressed his party’s dismay at Fine Gael’s policy and spoke of the terrible economic consequences for Gaeltacht communities.

"...uncomfortable with the
policy..."

Dinny McGinley TD was the next to speak. He spoke of his personal opposition to any attempt to harm the Gaeltacht or the language.  He emphasised that he remained to be convinced that Fine Gael’s policy would not be harmful to both but that he was waiting to see what the outcome would be of the research and consultation process that Enda Kenny had promised.  He said however that there were many positive measures in Fine Gael’s policy as well and he stressed his own commitment to the language and his efforts to use Irish as often as possible in Dáil proceedings. He stated that he was uncomfortable with the policy but that research such as the Comprehensive Linguistic Survey of 2007 showed that the future of the Irish language was in jeopardy unless radical steps were taken.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill was the last of the politicians to speak. He outlined the progress made in recent years: TG4, Foras na Gaeilge, Official Languages Act, EU status and the 20 Year Strategy. He voiced his party’s opposition to Fine Gael’s policy and, like other speakers, referred to the negative economic impact such a change would have on Gaeltacht areas.  

After hearing from all the politicians the chair invited questions from the audience. It was clear from the first speaker that Fine Gael’s policy is a very sore point amongst the Gaeltacht community.

Speaker after speaker left McGinley in no doubt that the community is very upset and worried about the Fine Gael proposal. He was asked to explain how his party had arrived at such a decision; had it been carefully considered or was it a populist move designed to attract votes in urban areas?

One of the most robust exchanges of the night saw McGinley admit that he had never been consulted on the formulation of Fine Gael’s Irish language policy. He was also at a loss to explain what specific research had been used by the party in devising its policy. McGinley attempted to calm the audience’s fears by saying that that he hoped proper consultation and research would be carried out before any changes were made to the status of Irish.

Éamonn Mac Niallais asked that Deputy McGinley do as other Fine Gael candidates in the Kerry and Galway Gaeltacht had already done and express openly to Enda Kenny his opposition to this policy.  He brought the meeting to a close after the question and answer session. He thanked everyone for attending and urged everyone to sign the online petition against Fine Gael’s proposal. He also appealed to people to raise the issue of the Irish language with all politicians when they come looking for votes and to attend next Monday’s public meeting in Ionad Naomh Pádraig, Dobhar to raise the issue again.

Quiet protest for soul of Ireland!

Maybe you missed it on the RTÉ news - if it was on at all - this is the silent protest of students on the place of Irish in our Education System.

TG4 stated that there were 500 taking part, to this correspondent it looks like a greater number.

Needless to say like all students they were unable to remain silent for long!

A friend said "I voted for Fine Gael in the seventies to save the school in Dún Chaoin, they did save it but unfortunately they made Irish optional for the civil service. I cannot vote for them now because I fear they will finish the job!" This point and its results were discussed in a paper by the Language Commissioner earlier this month where he revealed that only 1.5% of the admin in the Department of Education were capable of providing a service in Irish. And this is the Department so many of the policies of all the parties are relying on in their Irish language policies and indeed in the 20 year plan published last December.

Looking at Richie Ryan's statement on the introduction of this policy in 1974 it bears an uncanny relationship to the words used by Fine Gael in 2011. Judge for yourselves:

"...“satisfied that by replacing the compulsion which did so much damage to the
Irish language over the past half century with enthusiasm for the language, we
will have people more readily disposed to use Irish.” (Richie Ryan, Minister for Finance 1974)

"We believe that reinventing the way we teach Irish will encourage more students to study the language and engage with it beyond the school system. We believe compulsion has not fostered growth or commitment to the language. We will overhaul the curriculum at second level and we will critically examine the effect of current training methods of teachers to teach. Irish as an optional subject for Leaving Certificate will only apply following consultations on both matters." (Fine Gael Policy 2011)

My friend feels that Enda Kenny would be a good Taoiseach for the economy that is Ireland but that he would sell the soul of Ireland which is priceless. The people would be destitute culturally.